11 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Daylight Saving Time

Here's why candy makers love it and the state of Arizona doesn't.

Benjamin Franklin came up with the idea of Daylight Saving…

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But it was a joke. In 1784, Franklin penned a satirical letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris outlining how many pounds of candle wax the city would save (64,050,000 pounds, according to his calculations) if only its clocks were better aligned with the rise and set of the sun. If residents had trouble adjusting, he suggested the city “let cannon be fired in every street, to wake the sluggards effectually.” Now that’s a wake-up call. These are the 7 weird things that happen to your body when it gets dark out earlier.

The idea wasn’t taken seriously until 1907

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More than a century after Franklin’s letter, a British builder named William Willet became the champion of Daylight Saving, and lobbied Parliament to adjust the time in April and September in order to take full advantage of the day’s light. It is said the idea came to him after riding his horse one summer morning and noticing how many blinds were still down, which signaled to him the sunlight was going to waste.